The D&O Diary finished up its European stint with a brief stop in London earlier this week before heading home. Because it was only a brief visit with numerous commitments, I had only a little bit of a chance to look around while in London. Just the same, it was still a pleasure to be there. London is such a great place.

The primary purpose of my visit was to participate on the annual C5 D&O Liability Forum. I always enjoy being part of this event; it attracts attendees from across Europe, and indeed from around the world. The conference affords me the opportunity to meet and to share thoughts with industry colleagues from quite a number of different countries. I was a panelist and moderator of the event’s opening panel discussing the possible impact of  Brexit and the U.S. Presidential Election on the world of D&O. It was an interesting panel, with a particularly high level of audience interaction during the session. In the picture below, I am standing with my co-panelists, Noona Barlow of AIG and Francis Kean of Willis.

Later the same day, I was the keynote speaker at an afternoon event at Beazley’s London office, which was attended by quite a number of brokers, underwriters, reinsurers, and lawyers from the London market. I took the picture below of (part of) the audience at the end of our afternoon session. I really enjoy being a part of this annual event; it provides with a quick way to touch base with a large part of the London marketplace. In the second picture below, I am standing with my fellow panelists at the event; from left to right, Angus Duncan of the Meyer Brown law firm; Tracy Holm of Beazley; me; and Adrian Jenner of Beazley. My thanks to AJ, Tracy, and their Beazley colleagues for organizing and hosting this event, and for inviting me to be a part of it.

We arrived in London on Sunday afternoon and took advantage of the sunshine to stroll through some of the residential neighborhoods in West London. We were lucky to chance upon the Mount Street Garden, a lovely little park tucked away in Mayfair. Unexpectedly, the plant life in the park includes several palm trees.

Scenes from some other London neighborhoods:

Wilton Crescent, Belgravia

The Boltons, Kensington

Green Park

London is full of historical sites, but sometimes I do wonder who decides which sites will be memorialized